The Word On The Street: Who Loves You, Baby?

Maujer Street

maujerst

Jefferson Street

jeffersonstreet

(Taken June 13, 2013)

New York Shitty Street Art Du Jour: Mixed Bag

LMNOP

lmnop2

showta

icyandsot

johnsonave

elle

maskedwoman

Taken June 13, 2013.

New York Shitty Street Seating Du Jour: 23 Days Later

frontview

 

sideview

snapplesurgicalglovesmirnoff

 

newports

Previously

New York Shitty Street Art Du Jour: Chris Uphues

uphues1

uphues2

uphues3

uphues4

uphues5

uphuescloseup

Taken June 13, 2013.

New York Shitty Photos Du Jour: Cat Lover’s Special

kitteh1

citykitty

manekineko

CODcrew

vandervoortplace1

 

vandervoortplace2

 

johnsonave

wizardskull

Taken June 13, 2013.

Bushwick Street Art Du Jour: QRST

June 13, 2013 ·
Filed under: 11237, Bushwick, Bushwick Brooklyn, Street Art 

QRST1

QRST2

Taken June 13, 2013.

From The New York Shitty Inbox, Part III: What To Do About Illegal Hotels?

airbnb239banker1350amonthMore specifically: What do I do when I learn that a fellow tenant is renting out his/her apartment via Airbnb? E.g.; What recourse do I have when some drunken asshat breaks my front door lock at 2:00 a.m. in the morning or simply walks in and hands my husband his luggage?

A tipster writes:

Heather!

Illegal Hotels, formally known as transient occupancy units (TOU’s) are Class “A” residential units that have been converted for short-term stays of 30 days or less without adhering to the fire codes, tax laws, Certificates of Occupancy and zoning restrictions of hotel use. The illegal conversion of residential buildings into hotels presents serious problems for permanent residents, limits the supply of available housing – in particular, rent-regulated and low-income housing. By lacking the necessary fire-safety measures that legal hotels are required to have by law, which are more stringent than multiple dwelling buildings, TOU’s also present substantial safety hazards to permanent, legal residents as well as short-term guests; many are dangerous firetraps.

The Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement (“OSE”), headed by Kathleen McGee, pulls together the various enforcement agencies to go after TOUs when they are reported. I know people don’t believe it, but for this people need to file 311 Complaints, being sure to tell the operator that they want it to go to OSE. Kathleen has worked to get complaints that are incorrectly taken for HPD or DOB re-routed to her shop (and has been largely successful).

The District Manager or local elected officials can also forward complaints directly to Kathleen, and can even do so anonymously. It can be hard to get OSE out immediately, unless there is a present and imminent fire hazard, but they are very good at going out to problem locations (ie: repeated complaints or severe activity). They have been stepping up their enforcement recently.*

So far, there isn’t much proactive enforcement based off of sites like AirBnB, although with recent changes in the law, which raised the fines for landlords and allows tenants to be fined as well, some landlords have started to patrol the websites to catch tenants and proactively inform OSE.

*No shit.

active239banker622013hilighted

New York Shitty Feral Furniture Watch: Reserved

May 20, 2013 ·
Filed under: 11237, Bushwick, Bushwick Brooklyn, Feral Furniture, Street Furniture 

reserved

sideview

Taken May 20, 2013.

Bushwick Photo Du Jour: Sign Of The Times

May 20, 2013 ·
Filed under: 11237, Bushwick, Bushwick Brooklyn, The Word On The Street 

wyckoffavenue

There’s something about this child looking up wistfully at the elevated tracks I find compelling…

The Word On The Street, Part II: Jefferson Street

Jefferson Street

Taken May 20, 2013.

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